On June 26, the IRS issued IR-2012-65, a plan “to help U.S. citizens residing overseas, including dual citizens, catch up with tax filing obligations and provide assistance for people with foreign retirement plan issues.”
IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said, "Today we are announcing a series of common-sense steps to help U.S. citizens abroad get current with their tax obligations and...
On Tuesday, March 20, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, put a direct question to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner concerning the difficulties overseas Americans are increasingly encountering in maintaining or opening bank accounts abroad, where they live and work and need access to financial services.
In response, Secretary...
On February 8, the Treasury Department issued new regulations related to the reporting required of “foreign financial institutions” under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Click here for a New York Times article on the changes.
As pointed out in that article, however, the new regulations do not address the concerns of individual filers abroad, alarmed at the extensive...
On January 9, the IRS announced that it was yet again reviving its program inviting those with undeclared accounts abroad to declare them, facing heavy penalties for not having filed previously but, in some cases, avoiding even higher penalties. Click here for the Bloomberg News article on this from the New York Times. Note that, as reported by the Associated...
While everyone knows (or should) that “U.S. persons” (citizens and green card holders) are required (above a very low minimum) to report their worldwide income to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, many do not actually owe tax because of credits given under tax treaties and because of the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), now $92,400, credited against earned income (not...
In March of 2010, President Obama signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) into law as part of the HIRE Act, requiring foreign financial institutions (FFIs) to report to the IRS specific data pertaining to U.S. persons (citizens, green card holders, “accidental citizens” born to Americans abroad, etc.), including annual debit and credit totals and any movements out of...
The August 31 deadline for voluntary disclosure of “offshore” bank accounts, extended by the IRS to September 9, has now passed.
"US persons" (citizens and green card holders) who are not yet in compliance with their tax and bank account reporting obligations should inform themselves and in some cases consult a tax professional. FAWCO will continue to post information on...
